Gibraltar is recognized as a British city after 180 years of delay

Gibraltar officially entered the list of British cities on Monday (29), nearly two centuries after the title, bestowed by Queen Victoria in the 19th century, was ignored by an administrative error.

The British Overseas Territory submitted an application to officially become a city earlier this year as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. But searches in the national archives revealed that Gibraltar had already obtained the status in 1842, 180 years ago.

Spain ceded the strategically located peninsula at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea to the United Kingdom in 1713 after a war. Spaniards have been calling for years for the site to be returned, but 99% of the local population is against the idea of ​​shared sovereignty between the two nations, according to a 2002 referendum.

Gibraltar’s condition, as well as the inspection of its border with Spain, has been causing discord since Brexit, in 2016. This is because the peninsula was excluded from the withdrawal agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Informal agreements are in place as the two sides negotiate the situation on the peninsula, which supported Britain’s membership of the European Union.